New Delhi, Feb. 7: The Indian Air Force is set to choose between a helicopter that flies the Queen of England and another that flies the US President to ferry the President of India, the Prime Minister and other Very Very Important Personalities (VVIPs).

An IAF request for proposals (tenders) is likely to be issued soon. But in air headquarters, the shortlist is already down to two: Sikorsky with its S-92 Superhawk or its variant and Agusta Westland with its EH/US-101 or a variant.

The IAF will seek to add 12 helicopters to its Air Headquarters Communications Squadron — as the VIP squadron is called. Eight of these helicopters will be configured to accommodate VVIPs and their staff and equipped with technology to keep them clued in all the time.

The US President’s helicopter unit — called “Marine One” — is known to have made such high demands for its new whirlybird that it was called an “Oval Office in the sky”.

For Pratibha Patil and Manmohan Singh — if they still occupy the offices they do when the helicopters are finally delivered — the manufacturers may have to compress Rashtrapati Bhavan or 7 Race Course Road into the cabin of a helicopter. It is expected that the first of the new helicopters will be acquired in 2009.

Sikorsky proudly identifies itself as the helicopter suppliers to Buckingham Palace. It has also sold to Thailand for its royal family, to Turkey for its rulers and to Bill Gates. The S-92 is a modification of the Blackhawk helicopter that US forces used infamously in Somalia (and inspired the book and film Blackhawk Down). The chopper is among the most visible of the US flying machines in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The EH-101 is now produced by Lockheed Martin and Bell under licence from Agusta Westland and called the US-101 for Marine One.

The Superhawk and the EH-101 are old foes, competing to win orders for VVIP communications in a number of countries. For “Marine One”, the EH-101 beat Sikorsky to the race. In the global rotorcraft industry, the buzz immediately went around that the British Queen flies American and the US President flies English.

The price of the helicopters is difficult to pin down yet. It will depend on the configuration the IAF wants and the Cabinet Committee on Security approves.

The US President’s Marine One is reported to be buying 23 helicopters till 2009 for a little over $6 billion. They are said to offer protection from a nuclear blast.

The machines for the IAF’s VVIP squadron will be expected to be equipped with flare dispensers and self-defence capabilities. The Superhawk’s standard offering is a nine-passenger cabin and it can accommodate inside the chopper a galley, a bar and a big lavatory.

The new machines will replace the Mi-17s and the Mi-8 helicopters in the communications squadron when it is headquartered in New Delhi.

When the VVIPs travel to difficult terrain — such as Jammu and Kashmir or the Northeast — the Indian Air Force provides Mi-17 helicopters. These copters are configured only to seat the VVIPs in cushioned chairs facing the cockpit. They are not soundproof.

India has also issued requests for information (the first stage before issuing a global tender) for 317 helicopters to five manufacturers. As many as 197 of these will be for the army — mostly for its Siachen and high-altitude requirements — and the balance for the air force. The army’s request for the 197 helicopters was cancelled in January on suspicion of foul play. Eurocopter and Bell were shortlisted for the $650-million order that was junked.